Afternoon well spent at enjoyable park concert
THE first band to play in Bedwellty Park, Tredegar, on Sunday, May 28, was Newport Borough under musical director Robin Hackett and, living in Ebbw Vale, I decided to go across and have a listen.
An hour or so before we were going to set off my wife Jane said there was a yellow warning on the internet about possible flooding in our area sometime in the afternoon. We decided to bite the bullet and go across to listen until the rains came.
We got to the park and I am always heartened when I see the bandstand in such a lovely green setting. It really is a lovely spot to sit and listen to a band for a couple of hours.
The conductor, Robin Hackett, introduced himself and the band and they began the programme on a very breezy note with a parade of marches by Sousa. It was a good choice and an appreciative audience were soon tapping away to the music. Sousa was not referred to as the “March King” for nothing.
We were sitting on a park bench to the side of the bandstand immediately behind the trombone section and found it very difficult to pick up all that was being said by the conductor as he made comments about the music played and the introductions to what was coming next. Having a speaker system available to the conductor would be of great benefit, both to the speaker and to the listening audience
At present anyone speaking to the audience needs a voice like Pavarotti or Domingo to be properly heard as the gentle twittering of small birds can interfere with a listener hearing exactly what is being said.
Beyond the Sea, I believe, was the name of the next piece of music and the band showed how well this was within their capacity as they produced a well balanced and quality sound. The Soprano Cornet Soloist, Christine Burnet, after a momentary nervous start, showed her ability with a nicely played Only Love.
The band really enjoyed playing the Russian Folk dance Kalinka as much as the audience enjoyed listening to it. I did not hear the full name of the paragon who played the cornet solo Paragon but Seamus did an excellent job of the technically difficult triple tonguing and played the very intricate parts with aplomb and I am sure that brass players in the audience would have appreciated his talent.
Aimie Hackett charmingly led the intensely emotional A Special Place and the background of the birds twittering really sealed the moment. This was a lovely piece of music.
Frolic for Trombones quickly changed the mood. Romance then returned with Shanandoah, Love Changes Everything and Moon River all being played with feeling.
The first half ended all too quickly with Glasnost which turned out to be a real rousing piece which technically tested some sections of the band and which the audience really enjoyed.
I do not have the space to deal with the second half of the programme, but suffice to say that it was as enjoyable as the first half.
The Final Countdown, The Ugly Duckling, Perhaps Love (?), were all appreciated by a very supportive audience as was another rousing piece by Sousa and an upbeat arrangement of the Lincolnshire Poacher by Derek Broadbent.
The Tenor Horn Solo Somewhere Out There from The American Tale was nicely played by Jenny Burns and the cornet trio Buglers Holiday was very slickly played.
New York, New York went down really well and Amparita Roco kept the feet of the audience tapping.
The band finished off a fine programme with a piece of music which is always well received, Hootenanny.
Robin Hackett and his team produced a programme of romance, hope, emotion, technical brilliance and joy and have certainly set an enjoyable standard for all future bands in the park to emulate.